Going Home to Germany

JWise Photo of the Day

Jutta Engelhardt

My mother-in-law Jutta Engelhardt is returning to Germany today after her longest trip ever to the United States. Over the course of this visit, she rode a bicycle for the first time in almost 50 years, rode a horse for the first time ever, exercised up a storm so she could hike in and out of the Grand Canyon, visited Death Valley again, attended a few concerts, visited the Rennaisance Festival, went to Santa Barbara twice, slept in a hogan on the Navajo reservation and danced the Fire Dance, she made a Navajo rug, spun yarn, made felt at a two day workshop, attended the Hoop Dance Championship, went to a drumming class, visited Los Angeles, bottle-fed baby goats, collected chicken eggs, went to her first baseball game, posed with the mayor of Phoenix for a photo, and laughed a lot. Not bad for a 73-year-old grandma. As she’s told me, “Getting old is not for the weak.”

And It’s DONE!

JWise Photo of the Day

Jutta Engelhardt at Tonopah Rob's Vegetable Farm in Arizona

This is Jutta’s last day at the farm after having been out here nearly 3 dozen times to commune with the chickens, help prepare things for market, enjoy many a lunch, and make friends.

Rob Lazzarotto of Tonopah Rob's Vegetable Farm in Tonopah, Arizona

This is Rob Lazzarotto who hates having his photo taken, but I just had to put this here for Jutta’s memories and to acknowledge what a great host he was. Jerry, Rob, Jutta, and I shared many bouts of laughter out on his farm which all made Jutta’s latest trip to America unforgettable.

Navajo Weaving at Fiber Factory in Mesa by Jutta Engelhardt with Caroline Wise and Mary Walker

This is Mary Walker, an expert in all things Navajo fiber culture-related, helping us remove Jutta’s rug from the loom and giving Jutta’s incredible labor a final stamp of approval noting what a great job she did on her first-ever weaving. Mary now has a shop of her own in Gallup, Weaving in Beauty, and offers Navajo Weaving classes taught by weavers on the Navajo Nation.

Navajo Weaving at Fiber Factory in Mesa by Jutta Engelhardt

Off the loom, this Navajo rug 100%-made by the hands of Jutta is now ready to be packed in a suitcase to travel back to Germany with her. Congratulations, Schwiegermutter!

Last Day of Fibers Through Time in Tucson

JWise Photo of the Day

Caroline Wise in Tucson, Arizona at Fibers Through Time

From Caroline: Here I am, felting away on the last project, a bag. The rocking action can take quite a while until the fibers are fused together properly.

Jutta Engelhardt in Tucson, Arizona at Fibers Through Time

My mother shows off her finished objects (she might have taken the flower to our room not anticipating there would be a photo). The book cover on the left is for a folder with felting instructions. The blue/black object is her bag and the round thing in front is a wall ornament.

The workshop was a lot of fun and so was the conference. I was glad to have my mom with me because mingling with other attendees wasn’t easy for me. She also was incredibly lucky and won two (!) baskets in the raffle. I was lucky too, because of course she didn’t have much use for all the fibery things in those baskets, one was a spinner’s basket with a Ken Ledbetter drop spindle (that I still treasure) along with lots of spinning fiber, the other was a handwoven wine bottle basket (which I still own and cherish) with some items that we regifted, although I still have some of the wine glass markers that I use as stitch markers. Before we left the conference I filled out a feedback questionnaire and foolishly suggested I could help with the website of the AZ Federation of Weavers and Spinners Guilds – which I ended up doing for about 10 years.